Medical electrical lead implant tool
A medical electrical lead implant tool includes a gripping assembly, terminating a distal end of an elongate shaft, adapted to alternately grasp the lead and release the lead and to rotate the lead, and a user control terminating a proximal end of the shaft. An internal drive cable extends within the shaft coupling the gripping assembly to the user control. The user control facilitates single-handed manipulation of a slidable dial, which may be grasped by fingers of a hand for longitudinal and rotational manipulation when a stationary handle is held in a palm of the hand; the longitudinal manipulation causing the gripping assembly, via the drive cable, to alternately grasp the lead and release the lead and the rotational manipulation causing the gripping assembly, via the drive cable, to rotate the lead.
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This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/858,228, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,637,916, filed Jun. 1, 2004, entitled “MEDICAL ELECTRICAL LEAD IMPLANT TOOL”, and herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to a medical electrical lead implant tool, and more particularly to a tool facilitating the implantation leads having at least one fixation helix or the like in areas not readily accessible during surgery.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIt is well known in the medial field that electrode leads capable of delivering electrical shocks may be implanted in a patient's body to stimulate a particular area or organ therein. Such leads may be positioned, for example, proximate a patient's heart to treat very fast, and potentially lethal, cardiac arrhythmias. Typically, such epicardial leads are coupled to an implantable cardiac device (ICD) which continuously monitors the heart's electrical signals and senses if, for example, the heart is beating dangerously fast. If this condition is detected, the ICD can deliver one or more electric shocks within a few seconds to return the heart to a normal heart rhythm.
Electrode leads of the type described above may be secured within a patient's body by at least one fixation helix. This fixation device often serves as an electrode and is inserted (i.e. screwed) into an area of human tissue such as an epicardial surface. Implant tools capable of guiding an electrode lead to and rotating the attached fixation helix into an implant site are known and typically comprise a distal gripping assembly for engaging (i.e. loading) part of a lead (e.g. the head) coupled to a proximal handle. During implantation, a surgeon engages a lead with the tool, positions it at the implant site, implants the lead (i.e. screws the lead's fixation helix into an area of tissue), and lastly disengages the lead from the tool. In some cases implantation may be accomplished by rotating the entire tool, but, in many cases, wherein the site of implantation is not readily accessible (e.g. a posterior epicardial surface accessed via a thoracotomy), this is not practical. Thus, to facilitate the implant of electrical leads in difficult-to-reach areas, implant tools, which permit remote rotation of the gripping assembly, have been developed. It is desirable to provide a lead implant tool that may be effectively utilized with one hand for the engagement, positioning, implant (e.g. via remote rotation of the gripping assembly), and disengagement of an electrical lead.
The present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following figures, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements, and
The following detailed description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiment may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described herein without departing from the scope of the invention.
Referring still to
Two fastening devices that cannot be seen in
As can be further seen in
It should thus be understood that tool 200 may utilized to engage or grip, position, implant, and disengage from or release a lead having a fixation helix affixed thereto in the manner suggested in
According to embodiments of the present invention, engagement of lead head 376 is accomplished by first pushing slidable dial 212 toward shaft guide member 206, resulting in the compression of cable tension spring 262 and the opening of tongs 216 and 218. The distal ends of tongs 216 and 218 are then placed proximate lead head 376 and allowed to close (i.e. the longitudinal force applied to slidable dial 212 is removed). Engagement is maintained as cable tension spring 262 attempts to expand thereby placing a constant gripping tension on the distal ends of tongs 216 and 218. After lead engagement, shaft 204 is maneuvered to position tongs 216 and 218 in proximity to epicardial surface 372 so as to position fixation helix 374 at an implant site. After helix 374 is implanted in epicardial surface 372, via rotation of slidable dial 212, lead head 376 is released by once again by longitudinally moving slidable dial 212 toward shaft guide member 206 and causing the distal ends of tongs 216 and 218 to separate.
Finally, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while the invention has been described above in connection with a particular embodiment, the invention is not necessarily so limited; numerous other embodiments and uses are intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.
Claims
1. A user control for a medical electrical lead implant tool, the implant tool comprising an elongate shaft, a gripping assembly terminating a distal end of the shaft and adapted to alternately grasp the lead and release the lead and to rotate the lead, and a drive cable coupled to the gripping assembly and extending proximally therefrom within the shaft; the user control terminating the proximal end of the shaft and comprising:
- a stationary handle including a body and fingers extending distally therefrom;
- a shaft guide member coupled to the shaft and to the fingers of the stationary handle, the shaft guide member abutting the fingers to form a window in between the shaft guide member and the body of the stationary handle; and
- a slidable and rotatable dial coupled to a proximal end of the drive cable, the dial being positioned between the fingers of the stationary handle and protruding out through the window;
- wherein the user control facilitates single-handed manipulation of the slidable and rotatable dial, which may be grasped by fingers of a hand for longitudinal and rotational manipulation when the stationary handle is held in a palm of the hand; the longitudinal manipulation causing the gripping assembly, via the drive cable, to alternately grasp the lead and release the lead and the rotational manipulation causing the gripping assembly, via the drive cable, to rotate the lead.
2. The user control of claim 1, wherein:
- the gripping assembly of the implant tool comprises a pair of tongs; and
- the longitudinal manipulation of the slidable dial in a distal direction, toward the shaft guide member, causes the tongs to spread apart to release the lead.
3. The user control of claim 2, further comprising a cable tension spring mounted within the shaft guide member for normally biasing the slidable and rotatable dial to a longitudinal position, away from the shaft guide member, in which the tongs are forced together to grasp the lead.
4. The user control of claim 1, further comprising a retainer rod coupling the slidable and rotatable dial to the proximal end of the drive cable.
5. The user control of claim 1, wherein the stationary handle includes an inner annular extension received in a cavity formed at a proximal end of the slidable and rotatable dial.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Dec 29, 2009
Date of Patent: Jan 31, 2012
Patent Publication Number: 20100168760
Assignee: Medtronic, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN)
Inventors: Richard D. Sandstrom (Scandia, MN), Keith A. Ufford (Chisago City, MN), James R. Svensk (Coon Rapids, MN)
Primary Examiner: Victor Nguyen
Attorney: Carol F. Barry
Application Number: 12/649,000
International Classification: A61B 19/00 (20060101);